Town officials used the storm as a talking point during their annual hurricane preparedness seminar Monday morning in front of about 50 South End residents and condominium managers. The Citizens’ Association of Palm Beach hosted the meeting at the South End Fire-Rescue station.

Despite Palm Beach not experiencing a major hurricane in more than a decade, officials warned attendees to take preparation seriously.

“Preparedness is about practice,” Boodheshwar said. “Fire-Rescue has a saying, ‘you don’t practice until you get it right, you practice until you can’t get it wrong.’ That is consistent with how you should be approaching preparedness for hurricane season.”

Miller addressed hurricane season storm predictions. She said local and national storm centers are updating how they distribute information after residents got discouraged last year when forecasts predicted Tropical Storm Erika would turn into a hurricane over Palm Beach County but it fizzled out before reaching land.

“After this they decided to change the way they communicate with people,” she said. “They’re trying to steer people toward different forecasting graphics that they have like wind speed probability and storm surge flooding maps.”

Sign up for weather alerts

Boodheshwar discussed how the town responds before and after a hurricane. He encouraged residents to sign up for weather alerts on the town’s website townofpalmbeach.com.

Taylor reviewed the town’s evacuation policy and emergency response procedures during and after a storm. She encouraged residents and employees to fill out forms for a town identification card so they can get back on the island after a storm.

Each speaker reiterated the importance of evacuating during a hurricane instead of trying to ride it out.

“Anyone choosing to ignore the mandatory evacuation order and remain in town should do so with the full understanding that there could be a point in time when no police or fire-rescue personnel will respond, no matter what the nature of the problem,” Taylor said.

She said residents who choose to stay should fill out “Next of Kin” release forms.

Cheryl Hoste, a condo manager and resident at 2770 S. Ocean Blvd., said it’s difficult to convince some owners to leave.

“Safety is our main concern,” she said. “I hope we can encourage them to evacuate but it’s hard for them to leave their home.”

Hoste said she plans to distribute next of kin forms to owners who don’t temporarily relocate.

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